One prior art method of including a processor number is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,207. A CMOS microprocessor chip includes an on chip single poly EPROM that is process compatible with the CMOS process used to manufacture the microprocessor. The EPROM is used to store manufacturing and contract related data such as processor number, customer, and process related data such as wafer number test results, binning data, etc. This provides important information for quality and reliability control.
Past systems with processor number capability do not have the ability to provide a tamper-resistant disable capability. This is becoming more of a concern as users become more concerned with their privacy.